What? Why? How? The future of experiential

Yesterday afternoon, our clever joint MD, Jess Hargreaves spoke at Eventbrite’s “Future of the Experience Economy” conference, where she and her fellow panelists (Adam Azor of Jack Morton and Jason Megson of George P Johnson), shared some opinions & insights on the role of experiential in a connected world.

Headlines from the session:

A lively session on AR vs VR and some heated debate around the value of RFID with speakers from Blippar, Samsung, WOMAD, The Telegraph and The Ryder Cup on how to create best in class consumer focused events

Julia Hartz, Eventbrite CEO discussed the 3 key trends which are driving experiential marketing to a place of growth and relevancy with the millennial audience:

Changing values (moving from being identified with what you own to the experiences you have – concurring nods from PrettyBlack&White planning team!)

Technology is fuelling the experience and the ability to share and bond with others

FOMO – the classic fear of missing out is driving events and experiential attendance and technology is enabling more people to experience through live streaming and social connections

Jess focused her talk on 5 areas:

Thinking about the WHY? Only use technology if you are clear on the output and think of the brand as the servant – are you really providing what your audience wants?

The 1-9-90 model – pre / during / post event – how will you really engage a wider audience and get maximum exposure for the brand activity

What’s the story? It doesn’t matter where the idea comes from but make sure it all works together to create a clear plan

Don’t forget the basics when live! So, once the clever build is created don’t forget it’s then all about the experience which is delivered through PEOPLE (regardless of technology) so train them, look at the details and make sure front of house enjoy their role

ROI – It’s all about business results and the industry needs to come together to develop principles and a model – watch this space with the IPM Experiential Council and get in touch to take part

Now that Jess is our inhouse predictor of the future, we have got her to get our Euromillions ticket. Next week’s blog post will be coming to you directly from the beach in the Bahamas.